Juvenile papillomatosis is the commonest tumour of the upper respiratory tract in childhood.

The majority of cases arise in the larynx of young children.

Similar lesions rarely present in the soft palate, epiglottis and trachea.

Laryngeal papillomatosis may mimic asthma in the absence of symptoms of hoarseness, croup, or stridor. It should be particularly considered in 2 to 4-year-old children with recurrent wheezing that is poorly responsive to aggressive therapy including oral corticosteroids.

Histologically benign it is characterized by multiple squamous papillomas with basal cell hyperplasia, parakeratosis and less often hyperkeratosis and koilocytosis.  Image Link

Always ask about hoarseness and quality of voice in a history of any child presenting with cough or asthma-like symptoms. Children presenting with what appears to be an acute onset of hoarseness, without any physical signs of airways obstruction, should be reviewed after two weeks. If there is chronic hoarseness, referral to an ENT specialist should be considered with a view to laryngoscopy. If the child develops clinical signs of acute airway obstruction such as stridor or respiratory distress, prompt paediatric review is indicated. When referring, it is important to emphasise whether or not there is chronic hoarseness in order to differentiate the diagnosis from croup. Juvenile Laryngeal Papillomatosis may present with cough, pneumonia, dysphagia, or stridor, as well as hoarseness. These patients are often misdiagnosed as having asthma or allergies.

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in children: masquerader of common respiratory diseases.Pediatrics. 2006 Nov;118(5):1925-31.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in children is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening benign tumor of the respiratory tract with laryngeal predilection. The diagnosis of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis may be challenging unless there is a high index of suspicion and awareness of the variable presentations. METHODS: We reviewed the medical charts of children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis treated at a tertiary children's hospital. The presentation of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is illustrated by a series of case reports. We provide a paradigm to assist in the early diagnosis of children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. RESULTS: Five patients, aged 2 to 6 years, were erroneously diagnosed with recurrent croup, asthma, laryngeal hemangioma, and tracheomalacia after presenting with variable degrees of chronic dyspnea, cough, stridor, dysphonia, weak cry, and syncope. Once the diagnosis of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis was made, recurring surgical ablation of papillomata was initiated. CONCLUSIONS: Any child presenting with a voice disturbance with or without stridor is recommended to have diagnostic flexible fiber-optic laryngoscopy. Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis should be considered in children when other common pediatric airway diseases either do not follow the natural history or do not respond to treatment of the common disorder.

Lower airway papillomatosis in children.Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2003 Oct;67(10):1117-21.

Laryngeal papilloma in children is a frequent disease caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) type 6 or type 11. This disease has a tendency to recur and the changes are histologically benign. In some cases papilloma may affect the lower levels of the respiratory tract. In this study, among 90 patients treated for laryngeal papillomatosis, in four children papilloma of trachea, bronchi and lung tissue were detected in endoscopic and radiological examination. This constitutes 4.4% of all patients. Compact nodules and acquired cysts between 5 and 50 mm long were found in chest X-rays and in computerised tomography. These cysts appeared from 4 to 8 years after establishing a diagnosis of laryngeal papilloma, and 1 year after recognising papilloma in the trachea. In all four children the presence of nodules and cysts in the lungs was preceded by recurrent pneumonia, emphysema or atelectasis of the lungs. All children with laryngeal papillomatosis should have a chest X-ray. Detection of acquired cyst-like changes in lung tissue in children with laryngeal papillomatosis is a warning of future papilloma in the trachea and bronchi, with involvement of lung tissue. In differential diagnosis of these changes in the lungs we should take into consideration the presence of papilloma in the bronchi. A prognosis of papillomatosis in the lower airways in children is always serious.

Laryngeal papillomatosis with airway obstruction in an infant.Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2001 May;45(5):645-8.

Laryngeal papillomatosis in infants and children is a benign condition, but the location and a marked tendency for recurrence makes the disease both dangerous and troublesome. This case report deals with a little girl who had suffered hoarseness and wheezing since she was born. The diagnosis of laryngeal papillomatosis was made when she was 17 months old. By that time, the tumour had reached a size that necessitated a tracheotomy to secure the airway. The symptoms and differential diagnoses are discussed, and it is stressed that chronic hoarseness and wheezing sounds in infants and children should make a doctor suspect laryngeal papillomatosis. Laser treatment and anaesthetic management of small children with a compromised airway are discussed. As tracheal intubations and tracheotomy increase the risk of the disease spreading to the trachea and bronchi, an example is given of treating laryngeal papillomatosis with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser, using a laryngeal mask as an airway to avoid tracheal intubation. Whether this procedure can reduce the need to perform a tracheotomy in some of these small patients remains to be seen.

Laryngeal papillomatosis presenting as acute airway obstruction in a child. Pediatr Emerg Care. 1999 Dec;15(6):419-21.

Upper airway obstruction, regardless of cause, can masquerade or be misdiagnosed as lower airway disease in children. In such cases, therapeutic trials of antibiotics, bronchodilators, and over-the-counter medications for symptom relief routinely fail; however, the original diagnosis often goes unchallenged. If the obstructive process is progressive, then acute occlusion of the airway may occur, rapidly leading to suffocation and death if resuscitation is unsuccessful. Outlined in this report is the case of a young female with a history of asthma, poorly responsive to outpatient treatment, who presented with respiratory arrest. The cause of the respiratory collapse was later identified as a large laryngeal papilloma, a condition rarely encountered by emergency physicians.

The relationship of histologic and clinical factors in laryngeal papillomatosis. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1985 Jan;109(1):24-9.

Laryngeal papillomatosis is a disease that can lead to many surgical procedures, especially in children, and is potentially lethal. In this study, we reviewed 83 cases that yielded 902 separate laryngoscopy specimens to determine if any clinical or histologic findings were prognostic. "Juvenile" (n = 73) and "adult" (n = 10) cases were classified according to the number of separate lesions and the number of recurrences, but not necessarily according to age. Four prognostic indicators were constructed for the juvenile group and were analyzed by linear regression. Three new microscopic classifications were used: papillary, acanthomatous, and angiokeratotic. In juvenile cases, the last two categories appeared to be somewhat prognostic, along with several other factors. Some histopathologic findings contradicted classic descriptions. Differences in clinical manifestation and similarities in histopathology may suggest differential responses to the same causal agent.

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